Laminated trim panel



June 4, 1940. M. s'RANDALL LAMINATED TRIM PANEL Filed Jan. 25, 1939 INVENTOR. ffiJE-EZIZZ'7'1"?"5. Elm/BALL mfa mad ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 4, 1940 UNITED] STATES 2,202,963 LAMINATED TRIM'PANEL Meredith S. Randall; Detroit, l\iich.,,.assignor to Wood all Industries Incorporated; Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application January 25, 1939, Serial No. 252,777

7 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in laminated panel structures and particularly to laminated trim panels. One important use for panels of this character is as an interior trim panel for automobile bodies.

An object is to provide such a laminated panel with an embossed design formed in a laminated sub-assembly unit of the panel, which unit does not include.the panel foundation board.

According to my improved construction the complete laminated panel comprises a panel foundation board and a laminated embossed subassembly which is secured to the foundation board. The embossment is in the laminated sub- '15 assembly only.

It is common practice to provide a panel foundation board of moisture resistant material whereby the panel will not warp or buckle due to absorption of moisture but it has been found that if a layer of wadding and trim cloth is stitched to this foundation board there is a tendcncy for the stitching to act as a wicking and draw moisture up to the interior of the board and as these boards are never completely moisture proof this is an undesirable result. Furthermore, it has been found that there is a tendency for the foundation board to break along the weakened line of stitching. The present improved construction eliminates these undesirable possibilities. 1

It has also been found that if the wadding and trim cloth is adhesively securcd to the foundation board along compacted li'nes outlining the embossed design that there is a tendency for the trim cloth to pull away from this line of compacted adhesion because of the fact that in forming the embossed design and compacting the layers the trim cloth is stretched to a considerable I extent and this imposes a strainwhich may resuit in the line of adhesion giving way. In the improved construction here disclosed the entire sub-assembly is given the embossed design and this sub-assembly is then secured to the foundation panel without the imposition of any strain and the trim cloth is independently secured to the foundation panel beyond the margin of the sub-assembly.

Other objects, advantages and meritorious features of my improved construction will more fully appear from the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a trim panel embodying my invention,

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view through the panel structure shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view through a fragment of a slightly modified form of construction, and

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of a fragment of the modified form of structure shown in Fig. 3. 5

In the drawing the laminated panel is provided with a panel'foundation board ID. This is relatively sturdy and rigid and preferably is formed of moisturev resistant material. A commercial product which has been found suitable is 10 marketed under the name K B Board andis a composition fibrous material carrying a substantial asphaltum content. The board is of such a character that under the influence of heat and pressure it is capable of permanent deformation 15 to take an embossed shape. Secured to this panel foundation board is a laminated sub-as sembly unit to which is imparted an embossed de sign prior to its assembly upon the foundation board I0. 20

This laminated sub-assembly is made up of a foundation or backing layer [2, a layer of wad- .ding or cushioning material l4, and a layer of trim cloth or other suitable trim material Hi. The backing layer may be a layer of relatively 25 thin fibrous thermoplastic material such as the K B Board above mentioned but of a substantially thinner gauge than required for the panel foundation board. The wadding may be any suitable loose fiuffy fibrous wadding. There are sev- 30 oral varieties of felt and other cellulose fibrous materials which may be used or a jute wadding may be employed. In the jute wadding the fibers do not extend in layers parallel'to each other as is the case in some of the cellulose wadding lam- 35 inations but the fibers are needled through a suitable backing and many of them extend normal 'to the backing. This wadding layer is adhesively secured by adhesive I5 to the backing layer of K B Board and the trim cloth i6 is adhesively secured thereover. It will be seen that the trim cloth extends beyond the margin of the backing layer l2 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. This sub-assembly unit may be stamped or otherwise embossed with anydesired embossed 615 design and the K B backing is adaptable for permanent deformation to maintain this design. The three layers which make up this sub-assembly being loosely assembled prior to adhesion and embossing are permitted under the embossing 50 pressure to take this embossed design without imposing undue constraint on any layer tending to produce separation following embossing. The embossed sub-assembly unit is then secured to the foundation panel board by adhesive ill or in M other suitable manner so as to make up the complete laminated panel.

The several laminatlons of the sub-assembly are adhesively secured together and it is desirable to use an adhesive which will not bleed out through the cloth or cause bleeding of the asphalt from the backing layer. A suitable latex adhesive may be spread over one surface of the backing layer. The wadding layer is then placed upon the adhesive coated backing layer. Additional adhesive may be spread along the lines of intended embossment of the wadding layer underneath the trim cloth which has been placed thereover and which may be adhesively secured thereto so that along these compacted lines the adhesive will saturate the wadding and maintain the same compacted.

After the sub-assembly unit has been secured to one face of the panel foundation board the margin of the trim cloth that projects beyond the other layers of the sub-assembly unit may be folded over unto the back of the panel foundation board and adhesively secured thereto. This will complete the assembly. It will be seen that in the assembly the embossed design is confined to the sub-assembly unit and that the panel foundation board is entirely free thereof.

It may be desired to have the embossed sub- -asscmbly of an area sufficient only to cover the broad central expanse of the panel. In Figs.

3 and 4 such a construction is shown. In such construction the main foundation of the panel may be embossed to produce the embossed line 20. The laminated sub-assembly is of a size to be laid within the boundary established by this embossed line 20 as shown particularly in Fig. 3. The embossed line 20 serves to position the foundation layer of the sub-assembly with respect to the entire panel. Such sub-assembly foundation layer l2 may be adhesively or otherwise permanently secured to the main foundation layer It] of the panel. The trim cloth iii of the laminated sub-assembly is extended outwardly beyond the margin of the sub-assembly foundation layer l2 over the outer face of the adjacent marginal portion of the main foundation layer iii of the panel as shown in Fig. 3 and onto the back of the main foundation layer and there it is permanently secured in place.

It is apparent that the embossed design may be of any desired configuration. It is furthermore apparent that the main foundation layer of the panel furnishes necessary panel rigidity and strength. The laminated sub-assembly displays the embossed design and is not required to carry the strain or tension placed upon the main panel foundation layer. Therefore, the embossed design possesses a permanency of appearance which is highly desirable.

What I claim:

1. A laminated trim panel comprising, in combination, a panel foundation board, a laminated sub-assembly consisting of a backing lamination, a lamination of wadding overlying said backing lamination and a lamination of trim material overlying the wadding and extending beyond the margin of said backing lamination, said subasscmbly having its several laminations secured compacted together along a line determining an embossed area, said sub-assembly having its backing lamination secured in juxtaposition over the panel foundation board and having its trim material lamination independently secured to the panel foundation board, said backing lamination independently of said foundation board having insufilcient rigidity to serve as a panel foundation.

2. A laminated trim panel comprising, in combination, a panel foundation board, a laminated sub-assembly consisting of a fibrous backing lamination of thermoplastic material, a lamination of loose fibrous wadding overlying the backing lamination, a lamination of trim material overlying the wadding, said several laminations of the sub-assembly being secured compacted together along a line determining an embossment in the sub-assembly along which line the thermoplastic backing lamination is permanently deformed to outline said embossment, said subassembly having its backing lamination secured in juxtaposition upon the panel foundation board.

3. A laminated trim panel comprising, in combination, a panel foundation consisting of two sheets of foundation material, one being of substantially greater thickness than the other, a layer of wadding overlaid with a layer of trim material and secured to the sheet of foundation material of less thickness and having a design embossed through the three layers thereof, said two sheets of foundation material being permanently secured together, said layer of trim material being independently secured to the sheet of foundation material of greater thickness.

4. A laminated trim panel comprising a panel foundation which includes two laminations adhesively secured together, one of said laminations being relatively strong and rigid and the other of said laminations being relatively flexible and light weight, a layer of wadding overlying and secured to the light weight lamination, a layer of trim material overlying and secured to the wadding, said trim layer being extended beyond the margin of the wadding and the light weight flexible lamination of the foundation and being independently secured to the relatively strong and rigid foundation lamination, said trim layer, wadding, and relatively flexible and light weight lamination of the foundation being embossed independently of the relatively strong and rigid lamination of the foundation to present an embossed design upon the trim covered face of the panel.

5. A laminated trim panel comprising, in combination, a panel foundation including two layers of foundation material, one layer of foundation material possessing substantial rigidity and serving as the main foundation for the panel, the other layer of foundation material possessing substantially less rigidity than the first and serving as a foundation for a laminated embossed sub-assembly, said sub-assembly including in addition to its foundation layer a layer of wadding and a layer of trim cloth overlying the wadding, said wadding and trim cloth laminations overlying the sub-assembly foundation layer and secured thereto along determined lines of compression outlining an embossed area, said sub-assembly foundation layer being permanently secured to the main foundation layer of the panel, said trim cloth of the sub-assembly extending beyond the margin of the sub-assembly foundation layer and onto the back of the main foundation layer and permanently secured thereto.

6. A laminated trim panel comprising, in combination, a panel foundation including two layers of foundation material, one foundation layer possessing substantial rigidity and serving as a main foundation layer for the panel, the other area spaced inwardly fromthe outer margin of the main foundation layer, said main foundation layer provided with a shoulder portion encircling said sub-assembly foundation layer and positioning the same substantially within the central area of the panel, the trim cloth of the sub-assembly being extended beyond the margin of the subassembly foundation layer and over the adjacent portion of the main foundation layer and onto the back thereof and there permanently secured in place.

7. A laminated trim panel comprising, in combination, a relatively rigid panel foundation layer, a laminated panel sub-assembly comprising a relatively flexible foundation layer and a layer of wadding and a layer of trim material secured to said flexible foundation layer along compressed lines outlining areas exhibiting an embossed appearance, said sub-assembly having an area substantially less than that of the panel foundation layer and being secured thereto spaced inwardly from its outer margin, the trim material of the sub-assembly being extended beyond the margin of the sub-assembly foundation layer and onto the back of the panel foundation layer and there secured in place.

MEREDITH S. RANDALL. 

